Artist Jace McKinney with his winning piece.
Bahamian artist Jace Mckinney walked away the winner of Central Bank's 2012 Art Competition Open/Senior Category. Regarding his win, Jace expresses "It's an honour to have won this year's Central Bank Competition. I am also happy and humbled to be in the company of my fellow talented artists. Giving God all the honour and glory for lending me these extraordinary gifts. Feels good!"
The title of Jace's entry is "Where is He going? Where ha He been?” was a response to the Central Bank Competition's 2012 theme ‘Redefining the Landscape’. This theme directly references the 2009 Competition theme ‘Redefining the Portrait’, which sought to re-imagine the definition and role of portraiture in Bahamian art.
This year, participating artists had the opportunity to embrace the theme as a literal challenge in terms of material and/or the role of landscape painting in Bahamian Art History as well as thinking of ‘the Landscape’ as a metaphor for discussion of our evolving political, cultural and economic landscapes.
Jace gave Bahamian Art & Culture Newsletter his rationale behind his provocative sculpture:
"As I explored the idea of the ‘Caribbean man’ I first got the image of the “jack of all trades,” the humble laborer who knows how to build things from his hands. He also appeared to be a deeply religious and spiritual man, a gentle man, devoted to family. He was a respected member of society and a reputable businessman. Finally, he was a man of nature who could live off of the land.
"As I analyze the character of the “Caribbean man, comparing this character to my current generation of Caribbean males, I came to realize that the “Caribbean man” is a myth.
"I was inspired by this perspective of the mythological “Caribbean man” who’s character is alien amongst the young men of our society. He is a character lost in the landscape of tourism commercials, running across beautiful sandy beaches and 'chapping' open coconuts wearing colorful dashikis. This is how I viewed him in concerns with the plight of the young Caribbean male who seem to be struggling just to be a man.
"In creating this sculptural figure, I wanted to convey the idea of a character that was celebrated, but rendered useless, covered in celebratory materials and texture. I wanted there to be an undeniable contrast in materials between the old and the new, the found and the store-bought. I believe that this visual language symbolizes the current disconnect that we as a society have with our cultural heritage and history to the point where objects that were created for a specific purpose and had a certain value are given another identity based on the lack of knowledge of what it was once used for.
"In my piece, corking guns are turned into colorful birds, and drill bits are turned into necklaces. I decided to keep much of the tools in their original context to represent the fact that history and culture is never completely lost.
"This piece is a critique on how we desperately want to preserve, celebrate and hold on to the past that is constantly being redefined through new eyes. As the world seemingly gets worse, there is a constant outcry for days gone by. It is this same outcry that brought forth the title of this piece."
